Environmentally-stable organic electroluminescent fibers

A continuous process for making a flexible OLEF, said process comprising the steps of:

• (1) winding from a first spool to a second spool a flexible fiber core comprising a first electrically conducting material that forms a first electrode;
• (2) depositing at least one layer of at least one organic EL material over said first electrode while said fiber core travels from said first spool to said second spool, thereby forming a fiber of a first stage;
• (3) depositing a second electrically conducting material on at least a portion of a surface of said at least one layer of said at least one organic EL material while said fiber core travels from said first spool to said second spool, thereby forming a fiber of a second stage;
• and
• (4) depositing a barrier layer comprising a plurality of sublayers of at least one polymeric material and at least one inorganic material over an entire surface of said fiber of the second stage.

An apparatus for a continuous fabrication of a flexible OLEF, said apparatus comprising:

• (1) means for winding a flexible fiber core member from a first spool to a second spool, said fiber core comprising a first electrically conducting material;
• (2) first means for depositing at least one layer of at least one organic EL material over said fiber core member to form a fiber of a first stage while said fiber core member travels from said first spool to said second spool;
• (3) second means for depositing a second electrically conducting material on at least a portion of said at least one layer of said at least one organic EL material to form a fiber of a second stage while said fiber of the first stage travels from said first spool to said second spool;
• and
• (4) third means for depositing a barrier layer comprising a plurality of sublayers of a polymeric material and an inorganic material over said fiber of the second stage while said fiber of the second stage travels from said first spool to said second spool.